It's hard to believe, but it's just four days and counting till the start of the 2025-26 Oklahoma men's basketball season and head coach Porter Moser's fifth season at the helm.
And for the fifth season in a row, the Sooners will tip off the season with almost a complete roster makeover. The number of additions from the transfer portal are fewer than in recent seasons, but Oklahoma welcomed nine newcomers to the team and no returning starters.
Oklahoma nearing new men's basketball season
The turnover included five true freshmen and four transfers who were talented players and high producers at their previous schools. Of the Sooners' five returning players, however, only two -- sophomore guard Dayton Forsythe and senior forward/center Mohammed "Mo" Wague, himself a transfer from Alabama -- played any measurable minutes last season.
"Still learning about our team. But I like this group," Moser said on Tuesday at his season-opening press conference. "Athletically, we're longer, and we can do some things offensively, got some older guards, and I really like the pieces we put together in the portal. Sometimes you sign seven or eight guys in the portal, and it's hard to imagine that."
Oklahoma returns only 11% of its minutes and 9% of its scoring from last year's 20-14 team that lost to UConn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Moser needed immediate help in the backcourt after losing leading scorer Jeremiah Fears to the NBA and three other guards to the Transfer Portal, and was also focused on getting more size and athleticism in the front court and strengthening the team's rebounding ability. The Sooners added four transfers who Moser is confident will add valuable experience and provide an immediate impact.
The biggest addition appears to be 6-foot-2 junior point guard Xzavier Brown, who came to the Sooners from St. Joseph's, where he was a workhorse averaging nearly 36 minutes and 17.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Brown was an All-Atlantic 10 First-Team selection last season.
Also new in the backcourt is sharpshooter Nijel Pack, who averaged 17.4 points his sophomore season at Kansas State and nearly 14 points a game in three seasons at Miami, but missed most of last season with an injury. Pack is a 40.3% career 3-point shooter.
Adding scoring and size in the frontcourt is 6-foot-9 senior forward Tae Davis, who began his college career at Seton Hall and played the last two seasons at Notre Dame, where he averaged 15.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The Sooners also picked up former five-star combo forward Derrion Reid, who spent one season at Alabama but underperformed while dealing with injuries.
Moser believes the 6-foot-8 Reid has a high upside and adds depth along with returnees Wague and 6-foot-8 senior forward Jeff Nwankwo, a former junior college transfer who missed all of last season to an Achilles injury.
Among the returning Sooners, Forsythe, an in-state product, was a spark plug coming off the bench last season. He logged more minutes as the season went along and averaged nearly 14 minutes and 6.1 points over his final 10 games of the season. Forsythe's contribution is expected to increase his sophomore season.
Joining Forsythe among the returning players at the guard position is former Long Beach State standout Jadon Jones, who also missed the entire 2024-25 season with an injury. He averaged 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals a game at CSULB in 2023-24.
Players to watch from OU's 2025 recruiting class are 6-foot-10, 240-pound big man Kai Rodgers, an ESPN Top 100 player and No. 8 in the state of Georgia, and Alec Blair, a consensus four-star small forward and the No. 58 overall player in the 2025 class.
Despite all the new bodies, there is a lot of optimism in and outside of the program that this could be Moser's best Oklahoma team. Like in football, however, the SEC is loaded with talented basketball teams. Last season, for example, the SEC sent an NCAA record 14 of its 16 men's teams, including the Sooners, to the NCAA Tournament. Seven of the 14 advanced to the Sweet 16, with Florida and Auburn going to the Final Four and Florida winning it all.
The 2025-26 edition of Oklahoma men's basketball defeated both Texas Tech and Wisconsin in preseason exhibition games and will open the season for real on Monday, hosting Saint Francis at Lloyd Noble Center. Five days after that, the Sooners travel to Spokane, Washington, to do battle with No. 21 Gonzaga.